After the verdict was rendered in a 2013
trademark infringement case, attorneys
on both sides hurried out of the courtroom
to quiz jury members about what they
liked and what they didn’t—what the
attorneys did well, and what they could
do better. All except Jessie Kornberg, the
co-lead, and winning, attorney for Bird
Marella, who rose slowly from her chair.

She was eight months pregnant andwasn’t running after anything.

Outside the courtroom, though, she
found all 12 jurors and two alternates
coming toward her. They had a question of
their own: Is it a boy or girl?

“I had wondered whether my beingpregnant would affect the jury positively ornegatively,” Kornberg says. “It shows thatbeing relatable is a huge asset. They feltconnected to me, having seen me literallygetting larger during the month-long trial.It showed the power you have when youmake yourself available.”She adds, “But I think we won the caseon merit.”Making connections has been ahallmark of Kornberg’s career. In 2014,she became the first female CEO of BetTzedek, a nonprofit that has offered freelegal services to low-income, disabled andelderly people of all races and religions formore than four decades. During her tenure,base and steered the organization intonew areas—like helping low-income clientswork through tax disputes with the IRS. Adisproportionate number of those clients,she says, had a self-described mentalhealth diagnosis. While it’s too soon toknow what that means, she ponders thepossibility that the IRS has garnisheddisability benefits from people who mayhave not understood the system.

Scott Edelman, a Bet Tzedek board
member and partner at Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher, met Kornberg a decade ago on
the opposite side of a case involving a
producer’s claims for TV credits and profits.

That made the rancor disappear.”

Edelman was so impressed that he
subsequently tried to woo Kornberg to
his firm. These days, she’s the one doing
the wooing. “A couple of weeks ago she
called and said she wanted to encourage
a young board member who had arranged
a matching fund, and she was calling
the senior board members to give a little
more,” he says. “She’s just so uplifting and
inspirational, you always say yes. She’s just
someone you never want to say no to.”